


Dissolve

by thebestpersoninthegalaxy



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 15:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20819900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebestpersoninthegalaxy/pseuds/thebestpersoninthegalaxy
Summary: When Groot gets told that he is lazy he decides to do a mission on his own but what will he find and what will happen to him?





	Dissolve

Rocket woke up; as he stood, he felt the cold floor touch his paws. He then put on a sorta clean jumpsuit and then he made his way out of his room. It was still quite early in the morning but mostly everyone was up with the exception of Quill and Groot. Recently Groot had been going through a moody phase (he was a teenager after all). He had been ignoring people when they were trying to speak to him but if they were lucky, they sometimes earned a small mumble in response. He had been spending time away from the rest of the team in his room playing video games and sleeping. To be fair he probably needed the sleep to help him grow to his full adult size but the game playing was getting in the way of missions. When people needed his help he would be engaged playing a game, he would barely notice what was happening around him and he would just walk through missions letting everyone else do all of the work.

Rocket went to wake the both of them up; he would start with Quill because he was always easier to wake (surprisingly). After Rocket put some tunes on for him to rise from his snooze with, he made his way to Groot's room. As Rocket opened the door, light flooded into the room and an earthy smell flooded out. He walked in and opened the electric shutters over the window bathing the room in an orangey light emitted from the planet's star. Groot started to react to the natural light, pulling the covers over his face in an effort to fall back asleep. "C'mon Groot, you gotta get up." Rocket said in his futile attempt at waking the tree.

Rocket stood staring at the slumbering Flora Colossus when unexpectedly he heard the door open with a hydraulic hiss. His ears flicked to the side reacting to the noise and as he studied it carefully, he worked out who was making the stumbling footsteps; it was none other than Captain Star-Dork! Who walked in curiously to find out what was happening.

"He not waking up?" Quill said with a slight raspy voice. "Does he look awake?" Rocket sarcastically replied.

"I guess not. Have you tried usin' the ships alarm?"

"This ship has an alarm?"

"Yep, an SDX-566."

"You have a SDX-566 in this piece of trash? And anyway since when did you know about whole ship alarm systems?"

"Well I was the one who brought it so I needed to do my research also, don't insult the Milano, she's beautiful and you can always fix it up if you wanna."

"Uhh fine, I guess I could give it a try." Rocket grabbed the interface tablet, pressed a few buttons and a loud noise then entered the room however, Groot just stretched out his branches smashing the speaker nestled in corner of the ceiling destroying it. Quill watched with wide eyes. "That cost me like four thousand units eight years ago!"

* * *

A few days had passed and after a few missions where Groot did absolutely nothing, the rest of the Guardians decided to call a meeting to discuss Groot's behaviour.

Everyone sat at the ship's table, the faint hum of the engines was the only sound heard and Rocket was the first one to speak and start the intervention. "Groot?" He said to get his attention; obviously there was no response from him so he tried again."Groot?" He said, this time a bit more forcefully, Groot then responded with a small hum. "We gotta talk about your behaviour buddy."

"Rocket is absolutely right; recently you have been acting very distant and rude and it needs to stop. The ignoring, the playing games, the sleeping." Gamora added. "You also need to be aiding in our missions." Drax chimed in.

"Look, I know that you gotta to sleep so you can grow, but playin' those brain meltin' games ain't gonna help." Rocket said. "And we really just need you to participate and help out in missions." Quill then added.

Groot had had enough; all he heard was people saying that he was lazy and didn't help. He just felt like he didn't need to, they had it all under control and those games he played were just to pass the time. But he would show them. He would do an entire mission on his own. So he stood up and got ready to leave. "I am Groot (_So you think I'm lazy then? You think that I don't wanna help out? Well then maybe I should go then. Idiots, can't even understand..._)_._" Groot grabbed his bag and then walked straight out of the door to find a mission to prove himself.

Groot walked until buildings became bushes and nature started to overtake his view, he then sat down on the floor deciding that he was far enough away from the ship so he could think his life over. He thought that if he could do this mission successfully without them helping him then he would be thought of as hard working and definitely not lazy. He hated people who thought badly of him. He always wanted to prove to people how useful he was, so this would be his way of getting more respect from his family.

He took out the communications tablet that he was carrying in his bag and proceeded to contacted the Nova Corps, asking if there were any jobs to do on that planet. As it turns out there was! The Galaxy was a big place and so obviously, there were many problems. And problems needed to be solved by Groot. He replied saying that he would take on the mission to retrieve a stolen artefact from an empty building a few miles away from his location. He of course didn't notify the Nova Corps that he would be doing the mission on his own because he needed to do this for himself.

He decided to start walking. It was a long walk but Groot felt fine. He eventually came across a collection of buildings, they were each covered in thick vines originating from the forest, there were six in total. They were not too big. They each contained about six rooms and in one of those rooms was the artefact that Groot needed to retrieve. All of the buildings weren't very secure, they had broken windows, holes in the roof and a few didn't even have doors. The only exception was heavily guarded, the door was made of a thick, metallic alien material that was impervious to gunfire, the windows and roof were protected by the same material. The building looked impossible to break into, but Groot had his vines, which could easily rip a door off its hinges.

Groot outstretched his arms grabbing the worn looking handle and with a swift pull, the door easily flew off and landed somewhere in the forest. The inside of the room looked very deserted and dingy. A very small amount of sunlight made it through the minuscule holes in the walls and ceiling, this created beams of light that showed the dustiness of the air.

Groot walked through the building, ripping doors off and finding slightly unsettling things. One of the rooms contained scatted bones thrown across the floor, another room contained elevated cages rusting away in the humid air. Eventfully Groot made it into the final room. He saw many shelves lining the walls; stacked high with items, as he looked into the corner of the room he saw a cabinet containing a very weathered box. On the box there were three words written in a language Groot had never seen before. He decided that the box was safe enough to pick up so he grabbed it and tried to free the contents of the box.

The latch on the box was incredibly stiff and hard to open and as much strength as Groot possessed he couldn't open the box. He sat there for what felt like hours, pulling until he felt that his arms would fall off. He eventfully gave up and threw the box at the wall in a fit of anger. Many items started falling like dominos, smashing onto the floor. Irritatingly the lid of the box popped open with the impact. The box as it turned out contained a small chrome ball about the size of a marble, it was the shiniest thing that Groot had ever seen, he could have sworn he saw his entire life through it. When he made contact with it, he felt his hand burn and he instantaneously chucked the ball back into its box.

He once again removed the communications tablet out of his faded green bag and as he did this, he felt the burning spread throughout his right arm. The feeling was so extreme and overwhelming that he dropped the tablet onto the cold concrete ground, smashing it and rendering it useless.

* * *

Rocket was surprised, he knew that Groot wouldn't have taken the criticisms well but he didn't think he would just walk away. He didn't know where or why he had gone but he knew that in a couple of hours he would be back. He decided to just go and work on a gun, he didn't want to worry to much and anyway Groot was responsible, he was a teenager now and what harm could he do to himself one just one planet? He'd probably get bored and come home. He was happy with that thought, it didn't cause him too much stress so he just sat back and thought about other things.

Gamora was in the flight deck reading some news on one of the screens, when she heard a "Ding" indicating that a message had arrived. She opened it, noticing it was from the Nova Corps she thought that they had to save the Galaxy for the 400th time but upon reading it, she was surprised to find that that had accepted to do a mission on the planet that they were saying on? She was very confused, so she went to find Quill to get his take on the message.

She found him laying on his bed with his ears full of music, as soon as he noticed her standing in his room he immediately removed the headphones and looked straight at her. "Quill, we've received a message regarding a mission." Quill looked puzzled. "Which mission? Is it about the Kobi Queen who I accidently insulted?" Gamora face palmed. "It's about a mission that none of us accepted."

"So Drax and Rocket didn't... Let me just take a look." Gamora then handed over the tablet to Quill. He read over the message, a confused look sprouted on his face. "Yeah I don't it? Unless Groot did this because I don't think Drax and Rocket would accept one without telling me and this message came three minutes ago so it must be him."I'm gonna go tell Rocket about this." Quill then stood up and proceeded to find him.

Rocket was sitting at the table working on something deadly. He was concentrating hard but he noticed Quill walking in.

"Whaddya want?" He said still working on his device.

"I think I have an idea to what Groot is up to."

"Ok, what is he doin' then?

"Well we got a message from the Nova Corps saying that we have accepted to do a mission on this planet and Groot's the only one who could have done that."

"So Drax and Gamora are incapable doin' that?"

"No but I don't think they would do it without telling me."

"Uhh, let's go find this tree then."

Everyone gathered in the mess room. "Who's comin' with me to find Groot?"

"I guess I'll go" Said Quill avoiding eye contact.

"No, you have got to stay here and keep in contact with us." Gamora said standing up.

Quill pouted "Fine."

Everyone migrated to the flight deck, Gamora put in the coordinates of the building that Groot was in and they all enjoyed a one-minute flight. The both of them walked out the ship and into the dense forest. They couldn't land right outside the building because of how thick the trees were so they had to find a small clearing of trees. They walked for a very short time until they came across the buildings.

Both Gamora and Rocket made there way into the only building with stump marks outside the non-existent door, as they walked through the building they noticed many more doors thrown about the place and bones and cages. Eventfully they made it into the last room, there were many colorful objects smashed on the floor and shelves swinging in the draft. There on the floor was a very tired and motionless looking Groot and next to him was the small box that Gamora instantly picked up and put in her pocket.

Rocket carefully walked over to Groot and he noticed the large hole that had appeared on his right arm. "Groot? You okay bud?" Rocket sounded nervous. "Let's just get you back onto the ship and well see what's happenin' with your arm."

"Is there something wrong with his arm?" Gamora asked curiously. "Yeah, its gotta massive hole in it. Dunno what's goin' on, looks bad though."

Gamora thought she knew what was happening so she interrogated him. "Groot?" Gamora asked. "_What?" _He replied weakly. "Does your arm feel like its burning at all?" A small groan was all that could be heard. "Let me take a closer look." Gamora then kneeled down on the cold floor and studied the arm, she realised the arm was disappearing, She had seen this before, a tool very ancient in its creation but it could be used to make any living person or thing not exist. She stared up at Rocket. "Let's just get him to the ship."

After a while, the three of them made there way back to the ship. Groot was very weak so he lumbered behind with Rocket. Gamora frequently looked behind to check how the both of them were doing but in time, they made it back to the clearing and into the ship.

* * *

Groot was lying on his bed, he felt very weak, he heard the muffled sounds of talking coming from the mess room. "So I think I know what is happening to Groot." Gamora expressed. "Is it a bad illness?" Drax asked. "I'm afraid it's worse than an illness, where we found Groot laying on the floor right next to him was a box containing an ancient device. The device itself is a small chrome ball but what it has the power to do is make any living being fade from existence."

"So Groot's fadin'?" Rocket looked heartbroken.

"I'm afraid so"

"Is there anyway of reversin’ the effects?"

"Yes, there is once source of reversal in the entire universe, but it is incredibly rare, it could take a day to find or a thousand years to find."

"So the chances of us finding the frickin' stone before Groot fully dissolves is minimal?"

"Yeah."

"I could have a go at looking for it." Quill said.

"Are you sure?" Rocket looked up.

"Yeah and anyway, the chances of me finding it are higher if I actually look for it, so I'll give it my best shot."

"Thank you Pete."

"Now Gamora what do I have to do."

"You will need to go to Forbiam 6 as this is where a special kind of membrane forms, Forbiam 6 itself is highly dangerous. The atmosphere is comprised of methane at it sometimes rains Batrachotoxin, which is bad. She explained.

"What makes this membrane thing so special?" Quill asked curiously.

"The planet sits in a very interesting area of the universe. When it formed the planet went through many phases of being in and out of existence, this eventfully created a membrane that forms inside rock, I have no idea what they are made of or how they work, but it has been used successfully before."

"Well let's go get those rocks." Quill said sighing.

* * *

They landed on Forbiam 6 and Quill left the ship. Before hand, he had been given an Aero-rig, as they couldn't stay on the planet because it was too dangerous.

"Peter, you remember what to do?" Gamora said over his earpiece.

"Yeah, find the rock, open it, get the gooey stuff and come back."

She sighed. "Close enough I guess... Just try not to die, okay?"

Quill activated his Aero-rig and started to search the terrain for the rock. He flied for a while studying the surface until he found himself smashing into a large rock. He then woke up lying in the dirt in a lot of pain.

* * *

After Quill had left the ship, Rocket flew them just above the planet's atmosphere and then he rushed strait to Groot's room. He really wanted Quill to find that membrane, but he didn't have a lot of faith as it was so rare and this scared him. There was a high chance that Quill wouldn't find it which would mean the end of Groot. He had already lost nearly his entire right arm."Groot, how are you feelin'?" A small, quiet mumble was heard. "Look, Quill is out there tryna get you fixed but it ain't easy for him, the chances that he's gonna come out with the cure is very slim. But if he doesn't find it, I just wanted to say thanks for uhh.. stickin' with me, yunno, you've really helped me out over the years and for that I love ya."

"_I love you too and thank you for keeping me safe, you guys really mean a lot to me."_

"You mean a lot to me too buddy. Do you need anythin'? Water, food?" Rocket was interrupted. "_I just want you to stay with me during this, that would... that would mean a lot_." There were tears threatening to spill in both of there eyes. And so they both sat there enjoying each others company, maybe even for the last time?

* * *

Quill was in pain, a lot of pain. He laid there on cold, cracked dirt trying to get the motivation to walk on, he needed to do this for Groot and everyone so he reluctantly stood up carried on walking and promptly passed out, ending back on the floor.

He woke about an hour later, with the sound of beeping in his ear. His oxygen levels had depleted, he only had a maximum of twenty minutes left, he wiped his forehead and stood back up. He started walking again but was quickly floored by a sharp stone embedded in the dirt. When he was on the ground, (again) he studied it closely, it shined in the diffused light and when he picked it up he found it to be lighter than he imagined, he realised that this must be what he was looking for.

He grabbed the small chisel that Rocket had given him and very carefully started chisel the rock along the sides to break it in half, after about fifteen minutes he had successfully done just that. He saw the membrane that he had to take out, it was yellowish and had a sort of dull appearance, he then nervously peeled it out. By the time he had gotten up and messaged Gamora to land the ship on the surface he had nearly completely run out of oxygen and once again, he felt the darkness engulf him and he collapsed.

* * *

Rocket was sitting on Groot's bed, they were huddled close together talking softly to one another, Rocket did feel very empty at that moment. All he had for comfort in that moment was the tree next to him, a tree that wouldn't last for very long. He thought about the slight possibility that Quill would make it home and bring that membrane but it had already been a couple hours and Rocket thought that he probably already given up.

Tears started to roll down his face, creating a glistening effect on his fur he then felt a branch slowly make its way across his shoulders, it slightly tensed and he leaned into it. This was the saddest he had felt in a while. They sat in silence, just thinking about the memories they had had together. After a while, Groot softly spoke up. "_I'm really gonna miss you_, _you've been the best family a tree could ask for_."

"I'm gonna miss you too buddy"

  
"_I'm not gonna get past this, I know it and I'm so sorry for what I did_."

"It's fine Groot, don't think about it too much, and there's still a very small chance that Pete gets that membrane."

"Too small of a chance."

"I know bud, I know." The tears were constant, each drop soaking into bark and fur. However, they were interrupted by the sound of the hydraulic door opening making Rocket turn his head and instantly look over. It was Gamora and she had a very excited expression on her face. "Quill has found that membrane, we need to go and get him." She sounded exhausted. "Why can't he just come up on his own? He's got the Aero-rig." Rocket spoke fast trying to hide his sadness. "It said in his message that he's seriously injured and just about to run out of oxygen."

"Well let's get him then." Rocket's eyes squinted. As he was leaving he shouted "Love ya dude, see ya soon!" And so both Rocket and Gamora ran out of his room, grabbing Drax and went to rescue Quill.

When they landed, they took refuge from rain under a large rock, they then scanned the planet for life and on the little screen, they saw a few glowing red dots, one of them wasn't moving so they decided to investigate that one. After what felt like years of running and jogging they saw piled on the floor, a collapsed, injured human. They immediately grabbed the membrane out of his hand and picked Quill up and they rushed back to the ship.

After they fortunately made it back to the Milano safely, Rocket was quickly passed the membrane and he made his way into his room, everyone else all piled in Groot's room, Quill sat up against the wall nursing his pain and tiredness. He noticed how much of Groot had disappeared, the entire right half of his body was almost gone and he was glad that he had gotten there with enough time, as these thoughts drifted through his head he started to fall asleep.

Rocket worked as fast as he could extracting the liquid from the membrane, it was hard work but it was all for Groot. As soon as he had extracted the liquid, he inserted it into the air circulation humidifier and directed all airflow into Groot's room. He them rushed out of his room and ran there on all fours. Everyone was relived as he arrived and closed the door.

Within a few seconds a beautiful aqua colored steam entered the room through the vents, everyone was transfixed by the beauty of the steam that the only thing that made them look elsewhere was the fact that the bark on Groot was leisurely appearing back on him. A smile entered Rocket's face, his pointy white teeth were poking out from his coal black lips and his eyes lit up. Groot spoke "_I feel terrible after that_." Rocket then turned. "At least you didn't fully dissolve."


End file.
